Twister
by Angel Ren
Summary: Summary: Post James attack, Bella is chilling at Edward's with a bum leg. What does Alice decide to do? Play Twister! Cullen-style! BxE pure fluff! One-shot


**Ren writes more fluff! (And I'm in the middle of writing yet another fluff piece. Yay!) Bloodsucking Leech, I miss you dear. This piece was edited by the lovely Variety, my substitute beta, because it's weird to not have one when I've had one for a while. I finished writing it and then thought 'well, now what do I do?' Anyway, I present Twister: Cullen Style!**

_**Twister**_

**By Ren**

"Dammit, Edward!" Emmett growled, chucking his controller across the room. I jumped slightly, and Edward wound his arm around me tighter, comfortingly. We sat close; he'd hardly left my side since I'd been released from the hospital.

I wondered briefly what Jessica thought – or anyone, for that matter – about me spending so much time at Edward's house. I chuckled softly, causing Edward's unwavering attention to glance down at me.

"What are you thinking?" He inquired smoothly, his voice as intoxicating as ever.

"Nothing," I said quickly. Too quickly; he wasn't convinced. I was saved by Emmett though, as he stood up and stalked into the kitchen. I watched him until he left the room and as he returned, holding another PlayStation controller.

"Did he… just get that from the kitchen?" I asked in disbelief as he ripped the plastic off of the new item and plugged it in to the console. I sat between the boys with my legs curled up next to me, but I leaned into Edward, one of his arms wound around my waist before grasping the other side of the controller.

"Yeah. We keep a few extras in there," Emmett said matter-of-factly. Apparently the game controller lifespan in a Cullen's hands was limited at best.

"What else are we going to keep in the kitchen, anyway?" Emmett added as he plopped back down in his seat at my feet.

"Careful," Edward cautioned, nodding to my cast leg.

"He's fine," I said, snuggling closer against Edward. "Besides, wrapped up in that thing, even a vampire couldn't hurt it," I added dryly. Both of them – even Emmett – gave me a reproachful look. I shrugged casually. The fact that I had nearly been killed by a psychopathic vampire seemed to bother them more than me.

"Let's do this!" Emmett said, turning back to the TV and looking very serious. The "Winner!" sign was still flashing on Edward's side of the screen. Edward's race car was a little blue… something or other. It kind of looked like a picture of a Corvette I had seen, but not quite. Emmett's was supposed to be a red Mustang, and I knew that only because someone at my school in Paradise Valley had had a car that looked nearly identical.

Edward chuckled and I watched with a strange fascination as his elegant, piano-player fingers punched the buttons, restarting the race. Emmett perched on the edge of the sofa, focusing very intensely on the large television screen across the room. Edward, conversely, continued to be content as he relaxed himself on the sofa with my body curled up against his side.

_3…_

_2..._

_1…_

_Go!_

Emmett smashed his hand down on the button, and I winced as I heard the plastic start to crack from the force of it.

"See why we need so many extra controllers?" Edward's velvet voice murmured. I nodded mutely, glancing over to his controller. Edward's controller was in tact; perhaps all his training with controlling his strength around me had allowed him to nimbly tap the buttons effortlessly in a discerningly graceful manner.

Mutely, I glanced back to the television screen. Emmett was waving his control around, as if the control itself were the car steering wheel, or as if raising it above his head would encourage the car to go faster. Edward's blue car was flying ahead, leaving Emmett's in the dust.

I watched as a turn came up on the screen. Emmett yanked his controller to the right while steering, trying to force his car around the small turn. He succeeded. Edward did not.

Instead, Edward's car continued to go straight, barreling through a virtual wooded area shrouding the edge of the turn.

"Haha, you missed the turn, Edward! I'm going to win now, watch-_what the hell!?_"

I bit my lip to keep from laughing, but I could feel Edward's chest move slightly, as if he was laughing silently. Edward's "mistake" was actually a shortcut. The track ended up snaking back around and continuing on the other side of the trees. The foliage had slowed his car a bit, but Edward had landed back on the track, a huge distance ahead of Emmett, so the lost speed was of no consequence.

Within the minute, the race was over, and Emmett was fuming on the sofa. He glared at Edward childishly, and as I looked between them, I saw Edward just smiling coolly back at Emmett.

"Let's play something else," Emmett said suddenly.

"Rosalie and Jasper will be back soon," Edward murmured. When Edward had carried me to his home, Jasper had, chagrined, dismissed himself to go hunting. Rosalie had promptly made an excuse to accompany him. Judging by the brilliance of the gold in her eyes, she'd had no need to go hunting. I sighed.

"What are you thinking?" Edward's breath tickled my ear as he whispered and I felt my cheeks blushing brighter. I just shook my head, but Edward didn't take that for an answer. His weight shifted and he turned to face me fully. Catching my face in his hands, he lowered his lips to mine.

Fire rushed through me, and pure instinct kicked in. Luckily, Edward was used to my human reactions, so when I thrust my hands into his hair and tried to pull him closer, he didn't pull away. He obliged me until he reached his breaking point, and then carefully he raised his lips. Prickling sensations ran along my skin in his wake.

"Now… what were you thinking?" He asked again.

"I… don't remember…" I replied honestly, trying to remember my name through the haze. Bethany? Kelly?

"Haha, poor Bella!" Emmett laughed. Bella! That was it! "That's like cheating."

"Yes, well, he cheats," I said offhandedly, my brain functions completely functioning again. Edward chuckled again, pulling me closer. Even if I could've protested, I don't think my body would have allowed it.

I glanced up at him smiling, but the smile slipped off my face. His expression was blank, as if he were thinking. He was listening to something. There was a faint twinge of fear in his ocher eyes. Prickles of the bad kind of anticipation crept along my skin.

"Edward…? What is it?" I asked softly. He didn't respond for a moment and without warning his head snapped to the doorway.

A second later, Alice stuck her head in, a sweet, innocent smile on her lips.

"No," Edward growled out. "Just take it away."

"But it'll be fun," Alice said. "Trust me, I know." Without waiting she dance into the room, carrying a box in her arms. I raised an eyebrow at her as I read the title of the game in her arms.

_Twister._

"Alice," Edward cautioned.

"Oh! Let's play!" Emmett leaped off the sofa, causing the cushion to spring up suddenly from under my legs. I winced, waiting, but the recoil never hit. I glanced to Edward: he was leaning over me, an arm braced against the cushion that my broken leg was resting on, pushing it down. Slowly, while glaring at Emmett, he raised it gently so that the spring wouldn't jar my leg.

Emmett looked strangely apologetic.

"I'm sorry, Bella, I forgot about your leg."

"It's alright, don't worry about it," I smiled at him. He smiled back. Forgiven, he turned to Alice.

"Can we? Please?"

"Sure," she said, setting the box on the sofa and opening it. Deftly, she lifted the mat out and fanned it on the floor. I was surprised at the normalcy of it. Perhaps I'd expected an enormous mat given the baseball field; but no, it was standard sized. A regular game. It made me smile to think of vampires playing regular games.

"Playing, Edward?" Alice called.

"Absolutely not," he said. "Bella can't play, I'm staying here." I sighed.

"Go play with them," I encouraged him. He just shook his head resolutely.

"Well, it's not like she was playing with you and Emmett. And besides, we need a Spinner!" Alice moved over in front of me gracefully and presented the little piece of cardboard as if it were a royal crown. I grinned, taking it from her. I practiced my stellar flicking-motions: it would take an act of God for me to hurt myself doing this.

Pointedly, I looked back up at him. "See? Technically, I'm playing, too. Now why aren't you?" With an exasperated sigh, Edward carefully untangled me from himself, and he set about putting a pillow under my leg and behind my back, ignoring my protests. Satisfied with my perpetual comfort, he wandered cautiously over to Alice and Emmett.

"Shall we begin? Go ahead, Bella!" Alice chirped enthusiastically. "This is good, don't you see? Because it's a spinner, I can't see it, and because it's Bella, you can't read her mind. Neither of us can do anything until she says it aloud. We're all even in this game." She patted Edward's shoulder sympathetically.

"God forbid Alice or Edward should have to play like normal people for once," Emmett murmured lightly. I laughed softly. It was true: between the chance and my mind, Edward and Alice were no better off in this game than anyone else. I grinned and glanced down to the spinner in my lap and flicked the red arrow, watching it until it stopped.

"Left foot on red," I read. All three of them moved at the same time. Alice practically danced to her position, Edward moved begrudgingly, and Emmett practically stomped the mat. I smiled and spun the pointer again.

"Right hand, green." More shuffling of movement occurred. Edward was gradually allowing himself to have fun. He liked pretending he was bored, but I could tell by the way he kept sizing up Emmett that he was looking for a way to trip him.

"Left hand, green." I announced after spinning. At this point, there was a slight grumble; all hands were on the same color. Emmett and Edward were bent over and Alice was squatting daintily.

Vampires had exceptional balance and strength – but it, too, was finite, even if it seemed infinite in comparison to a human's. I wondered if Twister could approach that limit. There just had to be a point at which they were so tangled, they would lose their balance. And with enough random generations of placements on the mat, wouldn't that critical limit be reached? Would they get tangled enough to actually fall, or would this game go on forever? Perhaps they would have to start playing chicken on the mat to actually have a winner.

It was a full twenty minutes later – I checked the clock – before any tension began building. Nearly 200 spins later, Emmett was stretching across the mat, one hand in each corner, and one foot in a third corner and his other foot precariously beneath him. Edward was in a similar spread-eagle position over him, but his arms and legs were closer together so he arched up a bridge-like position. And Alice, with all her grace, was able to slip deftly in and around them. One of her legs was snaked over Emmett's abdomen and her body was between Edward's and Emmett's. I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing. Alice's spiky halo kept poking Edward's face.

"Spin it, Bella," Emmett choked out.

I flicked the arrow and watched it spin around.

"Left foot, blue," I said after a minute.

"Shit," Emmett breathed. There was a uniform moment of hesitation where all three of them glanced over their position and tried to figure out the best way to untangle and move to the blue.

"No, Edward, we'll fall if you do that. Let me move here… and I think if you put your foot – yeah, there. Now Emmett, if you move…perfect. Good! We're good!"

"Speak for yourself," Emmett muttered.

I spun it again.

"Oh no," Edward murmured, glancing up from his prone position to the door. On cue, the front door opened, and Jasper and Rosalie stepped inside. I watched, frozen, as the two stilled and turned to look at the Cullen pile in the living room.

Rosalie turned and slowly, gracefully walked into the room. She spared me a weak glance, her eyes sweeping over my cast propped up on a pillow, to the spinner in my hands and over my face. I tried not to flinch, but I don't think I succeeded.

Her eyes came to fall on Emmett.

"Hey, Rose," he said weakly from where he was underneath Edward. The once-friendly atmosphere had suddenly become cold and frozen.

"What are you doing?" She whispered after a moment. Her voice wasn't angry nor was it particularly a hiss, but I certainly wouldn't describe it as warm or curious.

"Playing Twister," he answered as if it were rather obvious, which it was, actually.

Quiet tension settled into the room as Jasper stayed poised outside the doorway. My eyes glanced to him and I realized he was staring at me. He didn't carry the same anger that Rosalie did. Contrarily, he looked like he wanted to join, but he watched me with wariness.

I looked at my lap, unsure how to react. I noticed the arrow had landed on 'right foot, green.' Casually I glanced up.

"Right foot, green!" I announced. I saw Rosalie's eyes narrow and her head canted in my direction slightly, but she did not spare me a glance. I also noticed Jasper start to smile slightly. Edward and Emmett, however, groaned.

"You're kidding me! There's just no way…" Emmett groaned before shifting his weight. Alice was just giggling, waiting… I watched closely, and as I thought, she leaped back off the mat and both Edward and Emmett went crashing down.

"I win," she laughed softly, then looked to Rosalie. "Want to play?" Rosalie raised an eyebrow and looked pointedly at me before answering.

"Maybe another time." Wordlessly, she slid her eyes to the door and glided to the stairs, disappearing to the second story.

"Well that went well," Alice murmured, then glanced to Jasper still hovering. "Come play!" She gestured.

"Ow!" Edward rolled over as Emmett crawled out from underneath him.

"I don't know if that's a good idea," Jasper murmured softly.

"Oh, come on, Jasper!" I waved at him enthusiastically. I could see that he really did want to play, and there was only one thing holding him back; my blood. "I'll stay right here. I won't be playing with this bum leg of mine. It'll be fine." He tossed an apologetic look my way before gliding into the room carefully just as Edward and Emmett were getting back to their feet.

"Again?" Alice asked, her eyes sparkling with delight. I glanced down to the spinner in my lap and flicked the arrow.

"Right foot on yellow!" I proclaimed. All four of them now moved forward and placed their right feet on one of the yellow circles. I spun the arrow again, and the game progressed with gentle ease.

Jasper seemed alright. He seemed content after his hunt and I couldn't tell that my presence perturbed him. He laughed with the boys but was chivalrous with Alice: if a spot opened up that was easy for both of them, he would let her take it and strain himself to reach one further away. I even saw him prevent Emmett from taking one from Alice.

I laughed when Emmett and Jasper got into a ribbing contest after that, each trying to knock the other one over. I knew that Rosalie was up in her room fuming, upset that everyone else was down here having fun. I was saddened that she couldn't get over her aversion to me to come have fun with her family, too.

I glanced up to the Cullen pile when a crash sounded –Jasper's legs had given out and Emmett's full weight had crashed into him, tripping Edward and sending Alice dancing out of the way. I couldn't stop the laugh that sprang to my lips. It was so absurd, so ridiculous to see the slender, graceful Cullens tripping and falling over each other. Never mind that I would've fallen on, say, the second spin; even with a good leg.

All four sets of eyes glanced to me when I laughed, and I quickly covered my mouth blushing.

"Sorry," I murmured, still smiling. In a second, Edward was carefully lifting me up and sitting down on the sofa before pulling me into his lap. I snuggled against his chest, inhaling his scent. It was so strong, so perfect so… _there._ My pillar of strength.

I felt his cool fingers in my hair, stroking through them as lightly as any human would. My eyes drifted close with his gentle touch. When his lips touched my temple, though, my eyes snapped back open, wide awake. I grinned up at him, blushing. Settling against his lap, I glanced to Alice, Jasper and Emmett.

"Play again, then?"

"You bet," Alice answered.

And we commenced like that; I was the Spinner, sprawled in Edward's lap. He just held me, tracing patterns along my side with his fingers and occasionally kissing my forehead. On occasion, I'd forget I was supposed to spin the arrow and Edward would reach down and flick it for me. Twister with vampires? It just didn't get any better.

Ever.


End file.
